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Coronavirus will strike Elmira's budget: Here's how city is planning for revenue loss

Chemung County shares its cut of sales tax revenue with its municipalities, including the City of Elmira.

Michael Collins(Photo: FILE PHOTO)

City officials, who budgeted for $5.5 million in sales tax revenue in the $38.2 million 2020 budget, have been closely watching the shutdown and preparing for the financial impact for weeks, said City Manager Michael Collins.

"We will continue to monitor our sales tax very closely. If action is needed, the city chamberlain and I are putting together a plan," said Collins, who noted the city has already taken several cost-saving steps.

"On May 7, our school traffic officers were laid off until further notice, based on Gov. Cuomo's executive order closing schools for the remainder of the school year. That will save us $35,000 through the summer," he said. "One thing we are doing is certain positions will not be filled until further notice. Department heads have been instructed to freeze all spending except for essential items."

The city is also slashing its capital budget from $2.8 million that was approved by the City Council down to $1.6 million, Collins said.

That means the road program will be reduced, and improvements to parks and recreation facilities will be reduced or postponed, he said.

The city is also putting replacement of vehicles for the street department and police department on hold.

The city had to raise property taxes 17% and hike garbage collection fees in 2018 to combat a major budget deficit, but the 2019 budget contained no tax increase.

The 2020 budget included a small property tax increase, but Collins doesn't believe the city will have to approve another major hike, even with the projected loss of revenue.

On the other hand, it's too soon to say if the city will be required to furlough or lay off personnel, he said.

"I don't want to alarm staff at this stage. We're looking at every and all options," Collins said. "Also, our 2019 numbers are being audited as we speak. Hopefully we'll have final numbers by the beginning of summer."

Elmira Mayor Dan Mandell(Photo: File)

The city is also hoping for more help from Congress when the next stimulus package goes through, according to Mayor Dan Mandell.

"We are hoping Congressman (Tom) Reed and our congressional delegation will come through. We're looking at more funding for municipalities, and it would be greatly beneficial to the city," Mandell said. "We have a resolution on our City Council agenda Monday to push this forward. We're definitely hopeful to get that help."

Mandell also credited Collins and City Chamberlain Charmain Cattan for getting an early start on planning for the financial implications of the coronavirus shutdown.

"We're just taking it day by day. First quarter sales tax increased. We know it will decrease based on the current shutdown," Collins said. "I think we have a good plan moving forward."